Medical Malpractice Insurers’ False Claims of Medical Malpractice Crisis Hurt Health Care Consumers
As Orlando medical malpractice lawyers, we continue to hear medical malpractice insurers claim that there is a “medical malpractice crisis.” Of course, there is no basis or evidence to support these claims. A recent report by a former insurance commissioner bears this out. Former Missouri Insurance Commisioner Jay Angoff has reported that the nation’s 15 leading medical malpractice insurers have unnecessarily driven up health care costs by falsely claiming that a medical malpractice crisis exists and “price gouging” physicians.
These statistics undermine the insurance industry’s claim that medical malpractice lawyers and ever-increasing medical malpractice claims payments have been causing a crisis. Mr. Angoff noted that insurers’ net paid claims actually fell 14.7%, before accounting for inflation, to nearly $1.15 billion in 2006 from more than $1.34 billion in 2000. In addition, the insurers’ incurred losses fell 48% to $1.35 billion in 2006 from $2.6 billion in 2003, according to the report. Nine insurers in the group reported drops of more than 50% of incurred losses, and two reported reductions of more than 80%. Moreover, between 2003 and year-end 2006, the insurers’ surplus grew 43%, the report stated.
Of course, despite this economic success, medical malpractice insurers did not cut-back on premiums to doctors. Rather, medical malpractice premiums continued to rise sharply from 2000 through 2006. Insurers reported $2.38 billion of net written premiums in 2006, a 24% increase from $1.92 billion of net written premiums in 2000.
According to Jon Haber, chief executive officer for the AAJ, “Medical malpractice insurance companies have been price-gouging doctors, padding their pockets with excessive premiums and driving up the cost of health care.” “Cynically, these same insurance companies have been blaming high premiums on a so-called ‘malpractice crisis’ that doesn’t exist. We have an insurance crisis, not a medical malpractice crisis.”
